Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2026

[whole diary]

[GBM]

This may be what you're after?

https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=29248.0

There's a NR^» (Network Rail - home page) report from 2024 within the thread which details how they acknowledge that the Thames Valley/Paddington is a "critical corridor" and how they intend to improve its reliability.

I'd say they still have some way to go.

Thank you, and yes. That is what I was referring to.
Some way to go? A very long way to go.

Do we still have ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road, formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about) to re look at this issue I wonder, or is it all being woven into GBR^▸ (Great British Railways), so nothing to be done for another long while!

[Trowres]

Thanks, TG^▸ (TaplowGreen - a respected member of this forum - or, possibly, a train cancellation code ("cancelled due to an issue with the train crew"), depending on context), for locating that thread.
It references the Network Rail CP7^▸ (Control Period 7 - The five year period between 2024 and 2029) Delivery Plan, which can be found at:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Wales-and-Western-CP7-Delivery-Plan.pdf

Further grubbing located the Wales & Western Performance Improvement Plan (2024) at:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Wales-Western-Region-Performance-Improvement-Plan.pdf

We have completed four phases of points resilience improvements works in the Thames Valley area. With the support of Intel Rail, we have scoped points for inclusion in a fifth phase of points resilience work based on previous failure history.
This work will include 25 point ends, which includes around 5% of the total population, but can be attributed to 45% of delay between P1 22/23 and P1 24/25. Previous phases have delivered a 60% uplift in points reliability.
Phase-5 will be completed in December 2025

Still very much a management-orientated description.  The only hint of hardware-specifics is:

W63 point machine conversions: Completion date 31:03:27 All W63 points replaced in East DU area

I guess that W63 refers to Westinghouse type M63 point machines; please correct me if you know otherwise, or if you can identify "East DU area" !

[edited to correct link]

[stuving]

Further grubbing located the Wales & Western Performance Improvement Plan (2024) at:
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Wales-and-Western-CP7-Delivery-Plan.pdf

What I find at that link is not the 2024 improvement plan (I can't find that anywhere) but the CP7 plan. The NR^» (Network Rail - home page) page for the improvement plan only has a link the (April 2026) Performance Improvement Plan Report. That says, of the improvement plan,  "April 2026 NR transitions delivery of Plan into Business-as-Usual". There is also some rather cryptic reporting of the results for e.g. W63 points replacement.

Where did you find the improvement plan itself (as a PDF)?

[Trowres]

Sorry, Stuving: I have now corrected the link in my previous post.

[stuving]

DU must mean delivery unit, in this context maintenance delivery unit. So the east one must be the MDU with the full name "Western East MDU".

(Sorry this map is a bit hard to read - it was like that in the document I stoleborrowed it from.)

[Trowres]

From the 2026 RT report that Stuving has found:

This activity aims to remove obsolete equipment and replace select assets with newer models with an improved reliability profile. Our W63 replacement programme continues to 2027 due to a revised plan.
• We are supplementing our W63 replacements with work on RT60 type points which increased in priority due to an FY26 increase in reliability issues. We are on plan for W63 replacements with delivery now transferred to the maintenance organisation. We have plans to deliver 13 sets of points in FY27, 9 in FY28, and 20 in FY29.
• In Period 2, RT60 points reliability saw numerous high impact failures and are now subject to concerted focus, including work with Technical Authority to re-design components for upgrade.
Replacement of these assets is aimed at reducing failure rates, improving reliability and simplifying maintenance activity.
• Route-wide Points delay per incident has reduced from 3.9 in Period 08 FY24 to 2.0 in Period 13
FY26.

I haven't found anything to suggest that W63 is not a reference to a point operating machine. However, RT60 refers to a particular design for a complete point. Hard to find details of it, but here's a potential (or actual?) replacement...
https://www.thepwi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/21-July-14-Why-NR60-Mk2-Ian-Bostock.pdf

[TaplowGreen]

Bit of variety today.......

Cancellations to services between Reading and London Paddington

Due to trespassers on the railway between Reading and London Paddington all lines are blocked.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed. Disruption is expected until 18:45 21/08.

[Trowres]

Page 53 in the 2004 report mentioned upthread  is the following:

Ensuring we have the right numbers of signalling staff is essential to run a good railway.
Historically we have had gaps in this space, but have made improvements, which we plan to build on in the next 12 months. By year end, we will have sustained the improvement in recruitment numbers to frontline signaller roles so that we have the right number of people
to signal the railway and help with providing ongoing development for signallers in the Region. In Wales & Borders, we have reduced our vacancy gap to circa 4% (down from 12% 24 months previous). We plan to recruit 22 signallers by year end (March 2025) which will
add further resilience to the signaller establishment. In Western Route, the vacancy gap is at 8.8%. However, there is a change being completed in the system due to a re-org of relief roles, once complete the true vacancy gap is 5.9% (down from 7.1% 24 months previous).
We have 8 new starters in the next 3 months and forecasted to recruit a further 19 signallers by year end (March 2025) and are currently reviewing age profile data to keep this under review as part of our engagement of a strategic workforce planning consultant. Alongside
this, we are operating a candidate pooling process such that we identify suitable external candidates ready for any vacancies at TVSC^» (Thames Valley Signalling Centre - about) and are looking at expanding this across the Route; thus, speeding up the recruitment process.

The report continues with more on the training theme and how software will be used to aid signallers in recovering from disruption. As automatic route-setting is a feature of TVSC in normal use, the gist of the section on recovering from disruption is that the software can b e used to rapidly rearrange the routeing of trains to allow ARS^▸ (Automatic Route Setting) to continue, allowing signallers to concentrate on whatever else is needed.

It's strange that signaller shortages have received much lower prominence than shortage of train crew, but the above seems to be an admission that NR^» (Network Rail - home page) lost sight of managing staffing levels and turnover. Too many reorganisations, perhaps?

[TaplowGreen]

From National Rail......

Route(s) affected
Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Didcot Parkway / Oxford / Swindon / Worcester Foregate Street / Bristol Parkway / Bristol Temple Meads / Weston-super-Mare / Great Malvern / Hereford / Cardiff Central / Plymouth / Swansea / Carmarthen / Penzance, and between Marlow and Maidenhead

Elizabeth line between Abbey Wood and Maidenhead / Reading

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Slough and Maidenhead means that some lines towards Reading are closed. As a result, trains running between these stations may be delayed.

Disruption expected until 15:00.